


Sick (But Not of You)

by sugar_and_sunshine_04



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Miscommunication, Sick Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2020-04-12 14:24:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19133860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugar_and_sunshine_04/pseuds/sugar_and_sunshine_04
Summary: Lance isn’t sick. Really. He’s not. He just feels kind of crappy. And according to Keith, he looks it too. What a jerk.(Lance is wrong on both accounts.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted to ff.net  
> Most of this is written, so it should be up soon. In the meantime, enjoy!

Lance's POV

To be fair, Lance really didn't think anything was wrong. Yes, he was cold—but they were on an ice planet! Yes, he was tired—but they'd been on a mission all last night and still had early morning training! Yes, he was sneezing, and coughing, and his stomach was rolling, and his head was pounding— And just because he didn't have an excuse for those did _not_ mean he was sick. He didn't have time to be sick, and the alarm blaring through the castle only further proved his point. He bolted out of bed, nearly tripping over his own feet.

Somehow, Lance managed to stumble into his armor and out the door without killing himself, and quickly rushed to the meeting room, only to find that he was the last one there. Again.

"Lance, you were late. Again. Had this been an actual emergency, then we wouldn't have been able to respond efficiently. Lives could have been lost," Allura lectured.

Lance flushed a bit. "Sorry, Princess. Apparently I needed a little extra beauty sleep," he grinned. No one seemed to notice that the smile was a tad bit dimmer than usual, and Allura sighed.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Lance nodded quickly, trying to ignore how the action made his head spin. He just wanted to get whatever this was over as quickly as possible, so that he could go back to bed. The mission last night had absolutely kicked his butt, not to mention the below-freezing temperatures that had been a harsh slap to his poor Cuban face. He was grateful when Hunk cleared his throat, and asked, "So, um, if there isn't an emergency...then what are we doing?"

Allura swiveled to face all the Paladins, clasping her hands together. "Well, the alarms were mostly a preparedness drill. For the most part,"— Lance dropped his gaze to the floor—"you excelled. Now, we're going to partake in everyone's favorite activity."

Hunk seemed to perk up a bit. "Breakfast?"

Pidge snorted, and Allura frowned. "No, we're going to do morning training in the simulator. Why would you think breakfast is better than that?"

Shiro jumped in. "He was just joking, Allura. Of course everyone loves the simulator." He glared at the others as if daring them to say otherwise.

Allura beamed. "Perfect! And afterwards, we can stop for breakfast."

Hunk sighed in relief, and Keith rolled his eyes. Lance shot a glare at him; no one got to be mean to Hunk on his watch. But when Keith caught his eye, he didn't rise to the bait as he normally would. Instead, he tilted his head, and frowned. When everyone else headed towards the simulator behind Allura, Keith hung back. When Lance went to follow, the shorter boy stopped him with a hand on his chest. Lance flushed, and tried to pretend it was in indignation. "What is it, mullet?"

Once again, Keith ignored the jab, and just...stared at him. Lance felt his face heating up, and with a start, he realized Keith's hand was still on his chest. He pushed him off. Automatically, he felt a little colder, but Keith finally seemed to realize that he was being weird. The paler boy frowned, suddenly looking anywhere but Lance.

"Nothing. It's...you just look kinda weird." Well. That wasn't offensive at all. Now Lance was staring.

"Gee, thanks. I don't think you can really talk; when did you last get a hair cut? The '70s?"

Keith huffed, and shoved past him. "Forget it. I'm sorry I mentioned anything."

Nice one, Lance. Way to get the guy. He sighed, dragging himself after Keith and the others. No matter what he did, it just wasn't right. Of course, Lance knew he could be obnoxious. People had been calling him annoying since he was two years old. But when his life was partially in the hands of his secret crush/rival? He would prefer that the person in question didn't hate him. But he would also prefer that he was in his nice, warm bed right now...so clearly his preferences didn't matter much. The door to the simulator room slid shut behind him, and Lance suddenly realized that he had fallen behind the others. He took off running to catch up, but—

"Oh sweet Jesus," Lance winced, stumbling. All of a sudden, the room was spinning, and he was pretty sure it wasn't a simulation. Despite the dark blobs threatening to overtake his vision, he managed to fumble his way to the rest of the team. They didn't even seem to notice his presence—not that Lance could see much. (Which might have explained how he missed the worried look Keith shot him.)

This was going to be one heck of a training.


	2. Chapter 2

Lance's POV

"Today, you will be experiencing a simulated battle against Galra forces in several types of terrain, so you can be prepared no matter what your surroundings are. We will be doing both solo and group simulations."

Lance inwardly groaned. "Several types of terrain" automatically translated as "horrible icy tundra" to him. It was practically a given that he'd get stuck with the coldest simulation. Ever since Hunk had offhandedly mentioned that Lance was from Cuba so he wasn't a fan of cold weather, Allura had practically had it out for him. Realistically, he knew she probably just wanted him to be prepared just in case, but it still seemed a bit sadistic to plop him in a blizzard every single time.

It wasn't fair. Hunk was from Hawaii. It wasn't as though Lance had ever been to Hawaii—with his family's income, it wasn't as though Lance had been to many places—but he was fairly certain it was warm. You didn't see Hunk duking it out in a snowbank.

He shivered just thinking about it. The room seemed to have dropped ten degrees, but a quick glance around the room showed than no one else was bothered, so he kept his mouth shut. He was really trying not to be obnoxious anymore, and whining was probably obnoxious. No longer would Lance run his mouth, or cause trouble, or not pay attention in briefings...

"-and Lance will be going first."

Wait. What?

Lance glanced around, and realized that everyone was staring at him expectantly. Crap. He had zoned out the entire time, and was gonna have to wing the whole thing. And as the entire team could agree, he was not very good at winging things.

But he didn't really have any other options. So he headed down the observation deck stairs to the simulation floor, and pulled out his bayard.

Even after all this time, Altean technology never ceased to amaze him. The previously invisible field that encompassed the simulation floor shimmered, and the room and other Paladins disappeared. When the shimmer faded, Lance was surrounded by white, and he was sure the temperature had dropped _to_ ten degrees.

Thanks, Hunk.

The first Galra appeared, and he nearly didn't see it due to the blinding downpour of snow. By the time he caught sight of the creature, he didn't have time to do anything but frantically duck out of the way.

The shot missed him, but only just. However, Lance had other things on his mind. The main one being _**oh frick on a stick I can't see anything**_.

The black blobs from earlier were back, and no matter how much he blinked, they refused to fade. He felt strange. Really strange. Like when he had taken his little siblings on the Tilt-A-Whirl once and—

Dizzy. That was it. Except this time, there were simulation bots coming at him that he couldn't see and no carnival ride to blame. He squeezed his eyes shut hard, and prayed that his vision would return. Preferably right now.

Lance opened his eyes. Great, he could see. Kinda. Blurry was better than nothing though, especially when there was another Galra pointing a gun at him that he had failed to notice. Only this time, he couldn't dodge fast enough.

The blast hit him straight in the chest plate, and was powerful enough to send him flying back into the snow—which didn't feel too great either. While his crash landing wasn't exactly comfortable, it didn't hurt nearly as bad as the initial attack. Sure, the Paladins had been climbing training levels pretty quickly, but the force behind the blast was completely unexpected. Although, it had been a long time since someone had been directly hit in a simulation. The last once had been Pidge, and if he remembered correctly, she had broken a rib and promptly been dumped in a healing pod. Maybe he should use the emergency stop...?

But a voice that sounded oddly like Keith's echoed in his mind. _**Whining is obnoxious**_ , it whispered. _**We don't have time for you to be a baby.**_

He was already the weak link, after all.

Lance gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet. He ignored the shivers that wracked his body in the frigid air. He ignored how his chest ached with every movement. He ignored his increasing lightheadedness. He ignored the fact that his vision was fading again. He ignored it all, in favor of raising his bayard and shooting the Galra dead on.

Unfortunately for Lance, the simulation had more than one Galra. And the one behind him? It's shot was also dead on.

Lance's last thought was that he was so going to get chewed out for this later. Way to not be annoying, huh?

And then he face planted into the snow.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith's POV

Ok. So maybe telling his crush that he "looked weird" was not his best decision.

Keith hadn't meant weird as in unattractive. That would just be a complete lie. Like, Lance's eyes alone were such a deep blue that he could just _drown_ , and—

Ahem. So no. It wasn't supposed to be an insult. But, as usual, Lance took it as such. Was Keith really that bad? Maybe he just wasn't a nice person. That would explain why Lance automatically assumes everything he says is an attack on him. It certainly wouldn't be the first time he hadn't gotten along with someone due to his fiery personality. It would, however, be the first time that _someone_ was the guy he liked.

Way to go, Keith.

But in all honesty, Lance did look weird. Actually, he looked bad; and Keith was glad he hadn't said _that,_ because Lance would not have taken it well. His skin was pale, and that was not a word anyone typically used to describe him. There were bruise-like circles under his eyes, and he was shivering all morning long. Throughout the entire briefing, Lance looked like he was about to pass out, and when Allura revealed he was going first, he seemed to be caught completely off-guard.

He looked sick.

Lance didn't say anything though, so neither did Keith. It wasn't Keith's call to make anyway. Who knew? Maybe he felt perfectly fine.

As soon as Lance drew his bayard, Allura began the simulation. Altean simulations were weird—they were just like real life. Only with a menu and emergency stop button. So any environmental changes or damages sustained in the simulation would actually affect the person in the simulator. The day Keith had ended training with sunburn would be one that the other Paladins would never let him live down. Even Shiro, who was supposed to be on his side, had laughed at him.

Once again, Lance had gotten the tundra setting. For all that the boy liked water, he seemed to have something against snow. And the cold, for that matter. He pouted every time they stayed on a planet with even a slightly cool climate, and his bed had roughly six blankets on it. (Keith might find it a little adorable, but like heck was he going to admit it.)

The simulator had a heavy downpour of snow; heavier than usual. It was hard to see through, and they were only viewing. That was why no one was surprised when Lance was slow to notice the Galra advancing towards him. What was surprising was his complete lack of action; even after the Galra should've came into sight.

By the time Lance noticed it, it was practically right on top of him. The creature shot at him, but he managed to dodge at the last second.

"That was close," Hunk mumbled nervously.

Shiro crossed his arms. "Too close. He needs to have a quicker reaction time."

Keith slid his gaze back to the simulation. Then blinked. That couldn't be right—

"Why is he just standing there?" Pidge asked, wrinkling her nose. "There are more Galra getting close."

Shiro shrugged. "Maybe it's a strategy. We'll find out."

Lance took a stumbling step, but that was it. Even as the Galra drew dangerously close, Lance didn't move. Keith slammed his hand into the railing. "What is he doing?!"

Shiro placed a hand on Keith's shoulder, but even he looked confused. Allura frowned. "If this is a strategy, it isn't a very good one."

Keith couldn't help but agree. As the Galra aimed at Lance, who continued to do nothing, it finally dawned on Keith that _wait a second this could actually hurt him_ , but—

"Oh _quiznak_." Pidge winced in sympathy. Under normal circumstances, someone—usually Shiro—would reprimand her for her language, but Allura's hand was already hovering over the end simulation button. Getting hit by an attack was no small thing,  
even in the simulator. Pidge could attest to that; a training had actually been the cause of her longest healing pod stay yet.

Lance had been hit hard. Really hard. Which was why everyone was shocked when he staggered to his feet right before Allura ended the simulation. There was no way he wasn't injured at all, but if he could get back up... Allura hesitantly pulled her hand back.

The Cuban teen fired his bayard at the Galra, and hit it right between the eyes. But before anyone could say anything, Hunk grabbed Allura's arm. "Stop the simulation!"

It was too late. The second Galra that no one had noticed—Lance included—had already shot. And hit. Lance fell forward into the snow just as Allura hit the emergency stop.

Keith didn't wait for the others. He jumped over the railing and rushed to Lance's fallen form, reaching him long before they had even gotten down to the floor. He could hear Shiro shouting at him, but he ignored him in favor of quietly mumbling, "Lance?"

The Cuban boy only groaned. He looked even worse now; even under the helmet, it was clear that his bangs were plastered to his forehead with sweat and that his face had no color. Keith heard heavy footsteps behind him, and turned to look at Shiro. "What do we do?"

"We need to get him in a pod," Shiro said grimly. "We'll have to carry him."

Hunk moved towards them, but Keith shot him a venomous glare. "I got him."

The bigger boy stepped back with wide eyes and no argument, and Keith felt a twinge of guilt. He would apologize later, probably. Right now, he just slid his arms under Lance's limp form and scooped him up— _geez,_ he was light. The second they were through with this whole mess, Lance was going to be receiving a very stern talk about the importance of taking care of himself. Because, as everyone knew, Keith was such an expert on the subject.

Keith turned towards the others, and Lance whimpered softly in his arms. Keith gritted his teeth, and hissed:

"You _better_ remember this bonding moment if you know what's good for you."

Lance groaned.


	4. Chapter 4

Lance's POV

When Lance woke, he could only register one thing: cold.

He hardly even noticed when he collapsed out of the healing pod and into Hunk's waiting arms, and the only reason he did was because Hunk was warm. His best friend had always been like one huge, cuddly heater, and Lance had always taken full advantage of it. Winter night at the Garrison? Cuddles. Heater broken in his room? Cuddles. Stuck in an ice cave and gotten hypothermia? You guessed it, cuddles. Had he been in full control of his body, Lance would have immediately latched onto Hunk like an overgrown koala. But alas, he was not, and all he could do was shiver violently.

Did he mention it was cold? Because it was very, very cold.

"-ance? Lance, can you hear me?"

Crap. Were they going to yell at him already? Of course, he had completely screwed up the training and would probably deserve it, but, like, he could barely remember what happened. What had happened? Lance's face screwed up as he thought. Nothing. As a matter of fact, the only thought his brain was providing at the moment was COLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLD-

"LANCE!"

Frick, now he was going to get in even more trouble. What a failure. Lance blinked hard, trying to focus. He weakly looked towards the source of the yell, finding Keith staring at him with a worried expression. Shiro was beside him, frowning. Lance blinked again, trying to clear the haze. "...y-yes?"

"You took a pretty harsh beating out there," Shiro said, frown deepening, "are you feeling any better now?"

If Lance was being honest? Then no, not really. He felt like absolute crap. His entire body ached, and his head was pounding. The chill from the pod showed no signs of fading—if anything, it was getting worse. "Yeah, I feel much better now. Sorry for worrying you guys."

"We're supposed to worry about you!" Hunk cut in.

"Yeah, since you clearly aren't gonna do it yourself," Pidge rolled her eyes. "Although I think Keith seemed to worry the most..."

The Yellow and Green Paladins snickered, and even Shiro was hiding a grin. Keith turned as red as his lion, and Lance managed to choke out a strangled, "what?!"

And now Lance swore he was hallucinating, because there was no way that Keith Kogane was pouting. The boy in question crossed his arms and glared at the floor. He huffed, "I have no idea what they're talking about. I wasn't worried at all. A stupid simulation  
should've been a cakewalk, anyway—I can't believe you managed to screw it up."

Lance flinched. Though he would never admit it, that had stung. It was nothing he'd never heard before, nothing he'd never told himself, but it hurt even worse to hear it from Keith. If Keith was saying it, then that meant the others would catch on soon as well. He likely didn't have long before they realized that he should be replaced. By someone stronger. Worthier.

Someone who wasn't still completely relying on Hunk to hold their weight.

Lance pulled away from the warm arms that he hadn't even realized still supported him, though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He'd already been healed, after all. There was no point in being a drama queen; he didn't need any help to stay upright.

Except that maybe he did, because the moment he took a step his knees gave out.

Everyone moved towards him, but it was Hunk that caught him. Again. He pulled him back, wrapping an arm around his waist to support him and sending him a worried look. Lance ignored it, groaning lowly and squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to rid himself  
of the sudden dizziness. Slowly, he reopened his eyes. Everyone was staring at him now. Fan-freakin'-tastic.

"Lance, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Shiro asked, eyebrows knitting together. The Cuban boy quickly nodded. "I'm fine! Just tripped a little! Guess Hunk's clumsiness rubbed off on me!"

Behind him, Hunk flushed, but Shiro only squinted at the Blue Paladin. Finally, he shook his head. "You should go rest. If the Galra were to attack, we would need you in top condition."

Lance's chest panged. _Of course_ , he thought. _Why should they care for you? You're lucky they even want you for missions._

"Yeah," he mumbled, voice suddenly much quieter, "I'll go do that."

Lance mustered up all his strength and left the warmth of Hunk's arms for a second time. The bigger boy made a sound of protest, but Lance was already striding towards the door on shaking legs. The room was spinning, but he only quickened his pace. If they found out that somehow the pod hadn't completely ridden him ofall of his ailments—they would think he couldn't fight. Then, they would have no use in keeping him around any longer. He would useless. Even more so than he already was. If they wanted him to leave, he wouldn't be able to handle it. They were his family; this was everything he had.

He wanted to be more than just a boy from Cuba.

He was halfway down some hall when he suddenly found himself unable to stand, and slid down the gray metal of the wall to sit on the floor. No one was there to see his weakness. If no one saw, then maybe he could stay. Even as the headache that Lance  
hadn't even noticed pulsed and grew in strength and his vision blurred into dark fuzzy spots, he cemented his decision.

No one would ever know that he felt sick. Ever.


	5. Chapter 5

Keith's POV

"So you guys thought that was weird too, right?" Pidge turned to look at the other Paladins with an eyebrow raised. She crossed her arms. "Lance was acting very..."

"Un-Lance-like," Hunk finished. He looked worried. "He felt really warm."

"I'm going after him. We shouldn't have sent him off on his own." Keith moved to do just that, but Shiro caught his arm. The red paladin turned to glare viciously at their leader, but Shiro didn't let go.

"I'm sure Lance is capable of making it to his room, Keith. He's probably just exhausted and sore. We can go check on him in a while, okay?" It was phrased as a question, but although Shiro's tone was gentle,it left no room for argument. Keith held his gaze for a few tense moments, then deflated. His glare fell to the floor.

"Fine," he muttered angrily. "But I still think something's wrong."

"Awww," Pidge interrupted, smirking. "Is Keithy-poo worried about his babyyyy?"

"Shut up," Keith muttered angrily. He shoved past Shiro angrily, heading towards the door. "I'm going to go train."

"Keith-" Hunk said, but the red paladin was already out the door. Shiro and Hunk both turned to send Pidge a look.

"What?" She asked innocently. "He never denied it!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Keith stalked down the darkened hallway. Maybe he shouldn't have gotten mad at Pidge, but at the moment, he didn't care. Tensions were high, and they'd all been stressed; she should've known better than to tease him.

...was his crush really _that_ obvious? That was what bothered him more than anything else. Keith had never had a crush before, which sounded ridiculous, but living alone in the desert didn't give you many options for eye candy. Being stuck in space with the guy he was sure hated his guts wasn't exactly easing him into it. Not to mention the fact that the fate of the universe required them to get along.

If it was that obvious to Pidge, maybe it was that obvious to the rest of the ship. Including Lance. The idea terrified him—maybe they all spent their free time making fun of him and laughing at his stupidity. He didn't even know if Lance was into boys—it would be just his luck to fall for a straight guy.

Maybe Lance thought he was disgusting. Maybe he was horrified by the thought of Keith liking him. Maybe he was homophobic and thought Keith should jump off a bridge.

Maybe Keith was losing his mind. They were in space—there weren't exactly any bridges to jump off of.

When he finally pulled himself out of his thoughts, he realized he had walked right past the training room. Pretty far past the training room, actually. This hallway was dimly lit and Keith didn't recognize it. He turned to head back...

But then there was a thud.

From around the corner.

Keith smoothly pulled out his bayard, and held it at the ready. Slowly, he crept towards the source of the noise, staying as silent as he could. If there was an attacker, they wouldn't be expecting them.

Finally, the red paladin inched right to the edge of the wall, whipped around, aimed his gun, and—

"Holy quiznak!"

He hadn't found a Galra, or even an alien. Oh no. That would be much simpler.

Instead, he found frickin' Lance, collapsed in the hallway and possibly unconscious.

Keith quickly replaced his bayard, and in a near-perfect replication of the simulation incident, crashed down by Lance's side. He shook the blue paladin's shoulder, and cried, "Lance?!"

A low groan answered him, and Lance slowly blinked his eyes open. "K-Keith?"

Ok, so Lance was conscious. That was good. Of course, it didn't seem like he would stay that way for long...

"Yeah—yeah, it's me," Keith choked out. "Quiznak, Lance, what's wrong?"

"'M fine," Lance slurred. He weakly pressed his palm into his forehead and winced.

Keith stared at him in disbelief, and suddenly, a laugh bubbled up from his throat. "You-you've gotta be joking, right?"

Lance wincedagain, but looked up at Keith with wide eyes. "Told you, 'm fine. Just...napping."

Keith closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he tooka deep breath, and reopened them.

"Lance," he beganslowly, as though talking to a child. "You are in the middle of a hallway. You are not napping."

"Am so," Lance muttered childishly, and it's all Keith can do to keep from rolling his eyes. He settles for taking another deep breath, because clearly, Lance is in no state to be mature and rational.

Which leaves that role to him. Resident hothead, Mr. Short Fuse.

Deep breaths, Keith.

He leans over and places his palm over Lance's forehead, then immediately recoils. "Jesus, Lance, you're burning up."

His only response is a low moan, and suddenly, Lance's eyes are fluttering shut.

"No, no—" Lance slumps forward, and on pure instinct, Keith catches him. The red paladin curses under his breath, then sighs. "Okay, Keith. You can do this."

He shifts Lance around to a better position, then takes a deep breath, and climbs to his feet, holding Lance in his arms. For all his lankiness, he doesn't weigh anything. The Cuban boy is limp as a rag doll, and Keith stares down at his pale face.

"The second you get up, I'm shoving space goo down your throat and getting an explanation."

Lance whimpers, and Keith begins the trek back to the infirmary, cursing all the way.


	6. Chapter 6

Keith's POV

Keith swallows, and turns away from the cryopod. "Are you _sure_ that he's supposed to be that pale? He's _really_ pale; I don't think he should be that pale."

"Keith, he looks the same way he did five minutes ago, when Coran told you he was fine. Which is the same way he looked seven minutes ago, when Allura told you he was fine. Which is the same way he looked nine minutes ago. When Shiro told you he was fine," Pidge sighed, rolling her eyes.

He frowns. "Yeah—but he's _really_ pale..."

Hunk looks just as worked up as Keith, but is doing a much better job at hiding it. He smiles sadly at Keith from his spot across the room. "That's because he's sick. Really, stupidly, me-after-eating-space-gas-station-sushi sick."

Pidge shuddered. "That's _really_ sick."

Keith chewed his lip, glancing back at the boy in the cryopod for roughly the millionth time. He really did look space-gas-station-sushi sick, even after two hours in the pod. The red paladin felt a rush of guilt as he turned back to the other two. "I can't believe we let it go this far. I mean, he had to have been sick for a while for it to get this bad. How oblivious are we for not noticing something was wrong?"

The trio fell into a somber silence for a moment, before Hunk exhaled, and mumbled, "I would normally tell you to stop taking the blame, but we do kinda suck."

Pidge chuckled dryly. "Tell me about it. Lance is always there when we need him, and we treat him like crap. I mean, he let himself _pass out_ before he would ask us for help. Some friends we are."

"But that's just it!" Pidge and Hunk looked at Keith with startled eyes at the exclamation, but he kept going. "He didn't tell _anyone_ that he was feeling bad. No one! He said he was fine until he was _unconscious_! And we knew something was off—he's been acting weird since this morning, for quiznak's sake—but we didn't do _anything_!"

Keith buried his face in his hands after he howled out his last statement. Hunk shuffled closer, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder, and Keith turned to look at him. But Pidge let out a startled gasp, and asked, "Keith...are you...crying?"

The red paladin blinked in shock, finally noticing the warm saltwater dripping down his cheeks. He furiously swiped at his eyes, cheeks burning red. "No! I've just...got something in my eyes!"

"Keith..." Hunk gently wrapped an arm around him. "It's okay to cry. We all do it; it's only human."

"I'm NOT crying," he protests, even as his face screws up and he's holding back a sob. His vision goes blurry with tears, and he vaguely registers being steered across the room and pushed into a chair. He can't cry. Not here, not now—he can't.

Except he is. Something in him breaks, and suddenly he's sobbing harshly into his hands. Someone's rubbing his back, and he can hear a voice he thinks belongs to Pidge murmuring to him. After a minute, he manages to pull himself together enough to form words, although it takes everything in him to gasp out, "I was j-just—so, so s-scared..."

"It's okay, Keith," Hunk whispers. "Just breathe."

Pidge nods. "It's okay to be worried. We were all worried. But Lance will be out any minute now, good as new, and we can all punch him for being so stupid."

"N-no," Keith stammers, "I'm gonna t-totally knock h-h-him o-out."

Both of them laugh a bit, though it's still subdued by the fact that Keith's still crying. Hunk grins, though it's a bit sad. "He should be used to being unconscious at this point. That's twice in just today. If we'd known he was feeling bad earlier, then Coran could've scanned for sickness and we could've set the pod up to treat that the first time."

There's a whoosh and a quiet thud behind them, but the three are far too distracted to notice. Keith sniffled, then rubbed weakly at his eyes. "I know. Even before the simulation, I thought he looked weird, but when I mentioned it he totally took it the Owrong way. As though I'd think he looked weird as in _ugly_. I shouldn't have been so mean today though, not when I knew something was off. I just...I just kinda panicked."

Pidge snorted quietly. "Ever heard of pulling on a little girl's pigtails? You went into a gay panic, dude."

Keith sighed, then tugged on his hair. "I didn't mean to. But...I really like him. And there's no way he'd ever like me back after how I've treated him."

"You weren't that bad," Hunk reassures softly. "Trust me, Lance hasn't been put off by behavior much worse than yours. I'm sure it has hurt him a bit, but you two can work through it."

Keith shakes his head and groans. "It's doesn't matter; he doesn't feel the same. I'm hopelessly in love with Lance McClain and he would probably willingly set me on fire."

"I guess that would _really_ make you Hot Stuff."

Keith's eyes go wide as he jerks around, and he can see that Hunk and Pidge's jaws have dropped.

"So...Keith, I guess we have some stuff to talk about?" Lance smirks.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our space bois finally talk it out. Mostly.

Keith wasn’t proud of the shrill, girly scream that escaped him. He whipped around to face Lance, who was wincing and had his hands clapped over his ears.

 

"Quiznak, Keith, break the sound barrier why don’t you?" The Cuban murmured.

 

Keith scoffed, flushing. "That’s what happens when you go fast, you idiot."

 

Lance rolled his eyes, and sassily put a hand on his hip. "I would be offended, but seeing as you’re apparently deeply in love with me, I’m sure you don’t mean it."

 

All the color drained from Keith’s face as he suddenly recalled what he had said. "I—I—"

 

Behind them, Hunk mumbled, "Should we go...?"

 

Pidge grabbed him and dragged him out of the medbay, door sliding shut behind them. Neither Keith nor Lance seemed to notice. 

 

Lance suddenly sighed and sank into a nearby chair. All his previous confidence seemed to drain away, and Keith blinked at the unexpected change.

 

"You...you weren’t joking, w-were you? You weren’t just making fun of me?" The blue Paladin asked nervously.

 

Keith blinked. "You really think I would do that?"

 

"Um...no?"

 

It was at this point that Keith, too, dropped into a chair with a sigh. "I’ve been a real jerk, haven’t I?"

 

Lance gave a small chuckle. "Well, in all fairness, I probably deserved it."

 

"That’s the thing!" Keith said, huffing. "You didn’t. You don’t. I’ve been awful to you this whole time for no reason except that I like you and couldn’t just say it!"

 

Lance tilted his head, cheeks slowly beginning to flush. "I mean...I don’t think that’s a problem anymore."

 

The other boy froze, before seeming to totally deflate. "I can’t believe I really just said all this out loud. All this time it was that easy."

 

The blue Paladin rolled his eyes. "I personally wouldn’t have called that _easy_. I passed out and everything and now you’re sitting here calling me easy. Honestly, I’m insulted."

 

" _That too_!" Keith yelped, suddenly shooting up. "Wait, not the easy thing. But you passing out. That shouldn’t have happened."

 

Lance dragged the toe of his boot on the floor. "It’s not that big of a deal, Keith. Just let it go."

 

Keith’s eye twitched. "What?"

 

The other Paladin didn’t seem to notice the hole he was digging himself. He leaned back in his seat with a quiet groan. "Just forget about it. Pretend it never happened. If I wasn’t so useless—"

 

" **Shut. Your. Mouth**."

 

Lance’s eyes went wide. Keith jerked his chin up, forcing him to look him in the face. He hadn’t even noticed him get up, but there he was, standing between his thighs and looming over him, free hand braced on the armrest. The tanner boy swallowed, and couldn’t help but let his eyes dart down to Keith’s lips. It would be so easy to just lean in a little—

 

"I told you to _listen_ to me," the red Paladin growled. Lance couldn’t help but shiver. Keith was still gripping his chin, and with the way he was practically pinning him down—it was impossible to focus. 

 

"‘M s-sorry," he managed to stutter. Keith seemed to realize what he was doing, and his eyes widened. He quickly let go, but Lance caught his wrist. 

 

"Don’t go," he whispered.

 

Keith’s whole face went red. He inhaled a shaky breath and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, they had darkened significantly. "Look at me."

 

Lance easily complied, watching the paler boy as he slowly straddled him, and gently lowered himself into his lap. Keith raised a concerned eyebrow at him. "Is this okay?"

 

Lance nodded breathlessly. Keith smirked. "Good. Now, you’re going to listen to me, and you’re going to listen _well_ , understood? There’s no running away this time."

 

Once again, Lance nodded, feeling a bit lightheaded. Keith tangled a careful hand in his hair, and Lance sighed happily as the red Paladin began carding his fingers through it. Keith’s smirk softened into more of a smile.

 

"Now. You are _not_ useless. You are _not_ a burden. The blue lion did not make a mistake in choosing you, and you are the furthest thing from replaceable. You’re smart, and funny, and an amazing fighter. And you are _very_ , _very_ , loved."

 

Lance stared up at him with confused, doubtful eyes. He blinked a couple times, and a tear streaked down his cheek. "I—I—"

 

Keith cradled Lance’s face in his hands, and gently thumbed the tear away. "I’m sorry that we’ve not treated you well. It was wrong of us to make you feel this way, and I promise none of us ever meant to make you think we didn’t care about you. Everyone on this ship loves you, understand? Allura, and Coran, and Shiro, and Pidge, and Hunk, and..."

 

The red Paladin flushed, and ducked his face into the crook of Lance’s neck. His next words were muffled, but Lance heard them loud and clear. 

 

"...and me. _Especially_ me."

 

Lance moved a shaky hand to the small of Keith’s back. The paler boy slowly looked up, and Lance smiled nervously. "I—I love you too."

 

That was all poor Keith could take. The last of his self restraint shattered, and he surged forward, arms wrapping around Lance’s neck.

 

Lance froze for a moment, staring at the boy he’d loved for so long, who’s lips were now pressed against his. It didn’t take long, however, for him to melt into the kiss, eyes slipping shut and hands desperately pulling Keith even closer. 

 

Outside the door, Hunk clasped his hand over Pidge’s eyes, dragging her away from the window. "Next time, remind me not to let you convince me to spy on people!"

 

"Come on!" Pidge yelped, fighting against Hunk’s grip on her. "My ship is _finally_ setting sail, you jerk! You have to let me see!”


	8. Chapter 8

Sadly enough, Pidge did not get to see her ship set sail. As a matter of fact, neither the Red nor Blue Paladins were seen by anybody until breakfast the next day.

Everyone was already at the table by the time Lance and Keith appeared, both boys looking rather flushed and with messy hair. Allura raised an eyebrow. “Did you boys have a nice morning?”

Lance turned an even deeper red, but Keith only smirked as he pulled out a chair for Lance. “As a matter of fact, we did. Although we did make a bit more of a mess than we intended...”

The boys shared a smile at the memory of the massive pillow fight that had just commenced. Neither of them seemed to notice the faces of the others at the table, or Pidge’s snickers.

“Anyway,” Shiro said, voice a bit strained. “Um, Lance, I...I suppose you’re feeling better?”

The Cuban boy smiled softly. “Yeah. Keith took good care of me. We had a nice bonding moment.”

Pidge choked on her space goo, but no one seemed to notice. Keith shot to his feet with a triumphant grin. “AH-HAH! So you DO remember! Everyone heard that, right? I have witnesses? He said it himself, we had a bonding moment; I cradled him in my arms, once again!”

Lance tilted his head, and frowned. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I meant when you thought I was asleep and started talking about how pretty I looked and how badly you wanted to pet my hair.”

Keith’s face slowly began turning red. “What.”

“Yeah,” Lance continued, eyes gleaming mischievously, “and then you started talking about buying a little house when we get back to Earth and adopting four dogs and raising house plants together and—“

“Okay!” The Red Paladin shouted, shooting to his feet. “I think that is quite enough for today—“

Lance pouted. “But I didn’t even get to the ‘Mr. Keith McClain’ part.”

“I always thought Lance Kogane sounded better,” Hunk mumbled.

Shiro cleared his throat. “Anyway...”

“Right,” Allura smiled and clasped her hands together. “So Pidge’s ship is finally ‘canon’, Lance and Keith have bonded, and breakfast has been eaten. You know what this calls for?”

Hunk’s face paled. “Uh...second helpings?”

“No, silly paladin. More training!”

Slowly, Lance and Keith looked at each other. Lance smirked. “I bet I could get you under me in five seconds flat.”

“Yeah? Well I could have you begging for mercy in three.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Bet.”

Allura blinked, not noticing the other Paladin’s slightly disgusted expressions. “Actually, I was thinking more like flight training...? Paladins? Would—would you rather spar?”

“I think we should stick to flight training today, Princess,” Shiro grimaced. “I’m sure those two will get all the...sparring...they need done.”

“Five bucks says Keith tops.”

“Pidge!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it! It’s not great, it’s short, and I realized halfway through that I should’ve just wrapped it up last chapter. But I felt like I owed it to you guys to at least attempt an ending, so here you are! Thanks for reading!


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